


i haven't bled in nearly two months

by thelocalmaniac



Series: Gettin' Rowdy [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Allusion to abortion, Chaotic Apprentice, Established Relationship, Feral Apprentice, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Navigating more mature relationships, Other, Pregnancy, The Apprentice is chaotic, The Apprentice uses they/them/theirs pronouns, They/Them/Theirs Pronouns, named apprentice, pregnancy mention, soft scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelocalmaniac/pseuds/thelocalmaniac
Summary: “I haven’t bled in nearly two months. I’m sick often. Yesterday I was craving bread so much that I bought a dozen loafs, because that’s just who I am as a person. If you were to do a check-up, you would find that I am absolutely growing a weird little parasite who is eating all of my goddamn food. And I haven’t been fucking anyone else, so I guess it’s yours.” The more they spoke, the more Julian’s jaw slackened, and soon their grip on his hair was the only thing that kept him from keeling over.Avery gets pregnant and Julian gets panicked.
Relationships: Apprentice & Julian Devorak, Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Series: Gettin' Rowdy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551721
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	i haven't bled in nearly two months

**Author's Note:**

> The Arcana and all of its intellectual property does not belong to me.  
> My interpretation of the Apprentice, Avery, is the only thing that belongs to me.

One thing that Julian Devorak had realized about the apprentice was that Avery was true chaotic energy. Truly he should have realized it from the moment they had smashed a bottle over his head, or when they had come in to feed him soup and instead thoroughly _ravished_ him with kisses, or when they had stayed to take on Nadia and her guards in the library. Everything they did was spontaneous and ridiculous. Avery was practically feral, a demon of a creature, but at least they used that boundless energy for good. 

They were always climbing up him like a monkey, or dragging him out of the clinic on dates (or bringing injured animals or street urchins into the clinic for treatment), or getting involved in harebrained schemes and adventures. Sometimes if he was busy looking over his notes and they were bored they would sit on the floor and scream. For no reason. 

It scared the absolute fuck out of him. Every time. 

Once they brought back a mushroom that Portia and them had found scouting in the forest for medicinal herbs and proclaimed “Neither of us knew what this was, so I propose we snort it.” After laughing his head off, Julian had tried to convince them not to. Naturally, this meant he was wrestling it out of their hands. 

Another time they saw some person steal somebody’s coin pouch and had _chased them the fuck down through town_. Once they had caught him, Avery had shown him an easier way to pick pockets and had offered him a job as their apprentice. His name was Eli, and Julian had mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. It seemed that he had an affinity for water magic, however, and had finally saved up enough money to rent a room above the café down the street. 

Needless to say, Julian never knew what to make of his eccentric partner who was powerful enough to bind the devil and yet had little to no common sense. 

They could brainstorm ideas to solve problems for hours and only come up with ‘murder’. 

But he loved them fervently, so he hardly minded. It made life an adventure even when they _weren’t_ sailing. 

“Jules! I have something to tell you!” 

As soon as Julian had walked through the door Avery had ran down the stairs, turned the sign on their window to “CLOSED”, then turned to grab his hands. Julian blinked and looked down at them, his usual pleasant greeting dying on the tip of his tongue as they stared him down with those doe eyes. Immediately he felt nervous. He always did whenever he needed to make long term eye contact and it wasn’t followed by a heavy make out session. “Aves? Wait, what--?” 

Avery was pulling him up the stairs now and he stumbled after them, looking mildly alarmed. But they hadn’t called off the engagement, so he figured that whatever had happened, whatever he had done, it wasn’t as bad as his anxiety had immediately tried to tell him. 

They arrived in the bathroom and pointed at the latrine. “I threw up!” they exclaimed. They sounded almost angry, but this could not possibly qualify as anger. Avery seemed outraged, but definitely not furious, which was an important distinction. However, it made him increasingly puzzled. 

Julian stared at it, then back at Avery helplessly. “Erm--um, okay. Right. What are your other symptoms?” 

“I thought it was only supposed to happen in the mornings,” Avery continued, flailing their arms dramatically, gesturing wildly. “But this! _This_! I wasn’t ready for this!” they babbled, beginning to pace. “This is ridiculous! I wasn’t ready!” 

He sidestepped to dodge one of their hands. “Uh, no, Avery, you can get sick at any time of day..?” Feeling like he ought to be trying to comfort them, he reached to sling an arm around their slender shoulders. They shrugged him off, still exasperated. _No._ He wasn’t _getting_ it. 

The magician groaned. “ _No_ , Devorak, you’re not _listening_. I’ve been sick for _weeks_ , and now--” 

“ _Weeks_? Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I did, and then once you offered me leeches and I decided to keep it to myself,” Avery grumbled, sniffing. They wiped angrily at their eyes with the heel of their palm. “When will it stop?” 

Julian was increasingly confused. “I-I have no idea. Erm, did you think I would--? I don’t know how to predict, um, the end of having a cold, but, like--” 

With a harrumph, Avery turned, burrowed their fingers into his curls, and held him still. Julian stared at them. “Julian Ilya Devorak--” 

“Ilya isn’t my middle name, Avery.” 

Avery paused, realized this was true, and started again. “Julian Frank Devorak--” 

“Now you’re just making shit up,” he said, grinning, biting back a laugh when they scowled at him. 

“I. Am. Pregnant.” 

Julian smiled at them complacently. “You’re not.” 

Avery shook his head in their hands, just rough enough to get his attention. “I haven’t bled in nearly two months. I’m sick often. Yesterday I was craving bread so much that I bought a dozen loafs, because that’s just who I am as a person. If you were to do a check-up, you would find that I am absolutely growing a weird little parasite who is eating all of my goddamn food. And I haven’t been fucking anyone else, so I guess it’s yours.” The more they spoke, the more Julian’s jaw slackened, and soon their grip on his hair was the only thing that kept him from keeling over. Gently Avery guided him to a squatting position so his knees wouldn’t buckle. Now they were inspecting him warily. “Hey, hey. You’re hyperventilating.” 

“You clearly don’t know what hyperventilating is.” His face was in his hands. That wasn’t a good sign, but Avery was not in the right mental space to be taking _care_ of him when their life was about to be uprooted. “ _Fuck,_ Avery. What are we going to do?” 

They half-shrugged. “We could get rid of it. Or we could raise it. It’s up to you, I s’pose. I don’t much care either way.” That was a lie. They cared _so much_. But they wanted Julian far more than they wanted anything else, and they would go with whatever he wanted. “We don’t have to decide today, either. But I wanted you to know because I love you and I want you to be involved in the decision.” 

Dropping his hands away from his face, Julian exhaled shakily before looking up at them, smiling. His eyes were suspiciously bright. “I’ve always wanted to be a father,” he said quietly. 

“Me too,” Avery replied, and he chuckled. Then he reached out to them with grabby hands and they pulled him to his feet, grunting when his complete weight fell across them shortly after. He held them tightly in his arms, burrowing his nose into the crook of their neck, and Avery breathed in his familiar scent as their eyes drifted closed. Yes, this was better. Everything was better when he was a part of it. Whatever they chose, they could do this. “I think you’d make a great father, though. And...and we wouldn’t be doing this alone. Asra and Portia will want to be a part of the process, and I’m sure Nadia a-and Muriel would help, too, if we wanted to tell all of them. Mazelinka always says she wants grandchildren, too. Like, I want your feedback, too, but—I think we could do this if we decided we wanted to.” 

Julian went rigid in their grasp and they winced, waiting for him to relapse, because that would be very on brand for him to suddenly remember how much he hated himself at a moment like this. 

But then he had taken their face in his hands with awe and reverence and was kissing them, and their legs felt weak as they leaned into him, seeking warmth and acceptance and commitment and all the things they had been hoping for. They hadn’t expected to find it in the man who was wanted for supposedly killing the Count, but they were so grateful that they _had_. They were endlessly grateful that they had met him. Avery’s hands found purchase on his shoulders, curling around the fabric of his overcoat, tugging him closer, kissing him until they were dizzy. 

When they stopped to breathe neither of them moved away, leaning into the other for comfort. Julian was giving them a look as if he would do anything for them, a look of adoration that scared them and made them want to bend him over and have sex with them there in the bathroom. “Thank you,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose against Avery’s. They smiled wanly and then mashed their face into his uncomfortably, spurred by a random urge just to see how he’d react. Julian cried out and recoiled, holding his nose gingerly to check for damage, before swatting at them. “I’ve changed my mind, you’re a hindrance! Begone!” 

Cackling, Avery followed him, unwilling to be parted yet, moving to rest their head against his chest. Immediately Julian’s arms encircled them, resting his chin on the top of their head. After a beat, Avery decided to ask again. “So what do you want to do?” 

“I...I-I think....” He looks at them as if trying to judge what the right answer was. But Avery wanted his opinion, so he gave it. “I think we should try.” 

Avery’s shoulders slumped, tension easing away from them. They had never talked about having a family, about starting a new life, because it hadn’t been something they had thought they wanted, or deserved, or could _do_. But now they had a choice. Now they had to talk about it. And they were glad that he had decided his future was one worth making sacrifices for. “I want that, too.” Their future was worth making sacrifices for. 

Julian smoothed his hands over their hair soothingly. Excitement was beginning to transform the shadows of doubt on his pale, angular features; the prospect of creating a family was something he could not _wait_ to experience. “We’ll need to baby-proof the shop!” 

“It won’t be coming for about half a year still, eejit. Let’s make sure it survives that long, first.” 


End file.
